“It’s been a long time, Director!”
Jeonju, Pension Fund Headquarters.
Department Head Oh clasped the hand of Park Seongcheol, who had come to visit after a long while.
“What do you mean, a long time? You came by every time Lee Sejun caused trouble.”
“That was already a year ago. And it’s been four years since I last saw you here at headquarters like this.”
“Come to think of it, this is my first time seeing you as Head of Risk, isn’t it? Nice office. Promotion really is a fine thing.”
“Of course not. I’m always working with an apologetic heart toward you, Director.”
“That’s not the face you’re making. It must’ve felt good, all the seniors retiring and everyone automatically moving up one step, right?”
“Oh, come on, Director... Yes, honestly, it did feel good. These days, thanks to the semiconductor boom, the pension fund’s returns are at an all-time high.”
“Hahaha. Now that’s the Oh Taeseong I know.”
After finishing their mischievous banter, the two spent quite some time catching up.
It was practically the life of an immortal. Since retiring, Park Seongcheol had gone flower-viewing in spring, foliage-viewing in autumn, and resort golfing in summer and winter.
“Goodness. You really are living like some kind of immortal, aren’t you? Did you truly do nothing but play?”
“What else could I do? Because of employment restrictions, I couldn’t get another job for three years.”
“So that’s why you jumped at the position of Growth Fund TF leader?”
“Yeah. The prime minister offered a hefty incentive. Thanks to that, I think I earned three years’ worth of salary in one go.”
“Haha.”
Park Seongcheol chuckled heartily before saying,
“By the way, you’ve got quite the nerve yourself. Sending that guy to the Growth Fund TF.”
“Lee Sejun?”
“Yes. If it had been anyone else, they would’ve sent someone with weight. How did you even think to recommend him?”
“That guy has the most weight in our division.”
“What?”
“When it comes to returns, he delivers returns. When it comes to mergers, he delivers mergers. He’s active all over the place. A while back, Asan Motors was targeting some robotics company in the U.S., and he sorted things out in the middle. In terms of returns, no one has beaten him in nearly five years.”
Anyone can make money during a boom.
Especially in a super boom like now, even ordinary retail investors can earn returns higher than traders. Rather than periodically changing your portfolio in the name of rebalancing, it’s more advantageous to simply buy and sit still.
But even in this bull market, his returns were record-breaking, and beyond investments, he was active everywhere in industrial mergers as well.
“His returns are that good?”
“Yes. He made a sharp profit on the Nasdaq, then suddenly moved most of his assets to the KOSPI. But once he rebalanced, like a ghost had planned it, the U.S. market fell and the domestic market shot up.”
“He’s a born talent. How diligently did he analyze the government?”
“The exact opposite. He’s the laziest man under heaven.”
“What?”
“He’s still living off the portfolio he put together five years ago. I doubt he’s lifted a finger since. The only things he’s been doing recently are mergers and messing with sectors that don’t make money.”
Park Seongcheol burst into laughter.
“Then he’s the perfect talent for our division, isn’t he? Investments are supposed to be done lazily. To still be living off a portfolio he made five years ago.”
“That’s true. In a way, he’s exactly the kind of talent we want most. Haha.”
When the greetings and small talk had finally ended, Department Head Oh asked casually,
“By the way, Director. What brings you here today...?”
“It’s nothing much. I wanted to ask you for a favor. What was the name of that investment firm you complained to me about back then? The external manager Lee Sejun selected?”
“Changcheon Fund?”
“Ah, yes, Changcheon. There’s something I’d like to check, so could I get a look at their financial records?”
Department Head Oh’s face tightened slightly.
“By financial records, how much do you mean...?”
“All of their accounting records. How they managed the funds, where they used the corporate card, how much they paid their employees—comprehensive data like that.”
“...Director, those are practically the documents you submit when you’re being audited. Of course, if we had to dig them up, we could, but Changcheon is overwhelmingly number one in returns among our external managers.”
“Come on, did I work at headquarters for only a day or two? If an external manager that makes us good money skims a little on the side, you look the other way within reason. I’m not asking because I want to make an issue of it.”
“Then why...?”
“There’s just something I want to check. If it’s too difficult, pretend you never heard it.”
Department Head Oh let out a short sigh.
Even when he had been on active duty, this was a man who kept a strict distance from dirty money. If such a person was asking for these materials after retirement, there had to be a reason.
There was no point in refusing. With the former director’s connections and tenacious personality, he would surely obtain them from someone else.
“Why make me embarrassed? That was careless of me. Let’s pretend I never said it.”
“When do you need them by?”
“You’ll give them to me?”
“If I refuse, you’ll ask someone else, won’t you? Until you get the documents.”
“Hohoho.”
“In that case, I might as well take responsibility myself. I was the one who gave Team Leader Lee the authority, after all.”
“Thank you. As expected, Department Head Oh is easy to talk to.”
Department Head Oh asked,
“But why those documents all of a sudden? Is there something suspicious about Team Leader Lee...”
“I’m going to copy him.”
“Pardon?”
“From what I’ve heard here and there, the best investor in South Korea is Lee Sejun, isn’t it? I want to copy how he put together his portfolio, and how I should run things if I set up a private equity fund.”
“Director...”
“Just understand it that way. I have no intention of causing trouble with this.”
The firmness in his eyes said everything. That he should not ask any further.
“Understood. I’ll speak to the relevant department. I’ll ask them to prepare it as quickly as possible.”
With a bitter look, Department Head Oh picked up the internal phone.
*
History is truly strange. The same things always repeat themselves.
And each time, victims become perpetrators, and perpetrators become victims.
Twenty years ago, Roh Moo-hyun, who was elected in a result no one had expected, was like that.
His administration had a weak base of support from the very beginning. He was neither from Honam, nor a Seoul National University law graduate, nor someone chosen by DJ. He rose to the presidency of the Minguk Party with an unprecedented career as a Yeongnam native, a YS kid, and a high school graduate... From the perspective of the Minguk Party mainstream at the time, it was as if an illegitimate son had ascended the throne.
Their concerns became reality. He suffered a lame-duck phase from his very first year in office.
When the Blue House approved the special investigation into the remittance to North Korea, the progressive camp split apart. Donggyo-dong and the pro-Roh faction eventually stamped their divorce papers through the Uri Party and impeachment, and even after that, they remained at odds for ten years.
Could the recent phenomenon be because of that trauma from back then? The sense of shame that they lost the presidency twice because their own camp split apart? I wasn’t sure of the reason, but in any case, the current Minguk Party had an atmosphere where, once a “boss” was decided, no criticism within the party was allowed.
—Next news. The allegations of nomination trading involving Supreme Council members Kim Huiseong and Lee Jaeseong, exclusively reported by MBC yesterday, are growing into a major controversy.
I fell into those thoughts as I watched the news.
This time, too, that history was repeating itself. A battle for party control between the mainstream and non-mainstream factions.
With the general election right around the corner, factional conflict within the party over nomination rights was reaching its peak. The eternal non-mainstream, the pro-Roh faction, once persecuted by Donggyo-dong, now seemed to have become the vested interest within the party.
Every day, the news reported on the conflict between the old forces and the new forces. In the end, even the cabinet files on Kim Sangcheol’s key figures had exploded.
“...”
But it had not even truly begun yet.
If my memory was correct, that fight would unfold fiercely all the way until the presidential election. But flowers do not stay red for ten days, and power does not last ten years... The last round of nominations that massacred the non-mainstream would now return as nominations in which the non-mainstream massacred them.
After President Kim Sangcheol left office, had he stood trial in a “fourth trial,” or hadn’t he...?
“Sejun!”
While I was lost in long thought, Meilin hopped over to me and linked her arm with mine.
“What’s gotten into you? Watching an idol concert with me?”
“It’s been a while. I felt bad that I haven’t been able to do this for you all this time...?”
“Hmph, now that you mention it, you were too much for not contacting me often either!”
“I’m sorry. To make up for it, I booked the Grand Hotel, so let’s have dinner there tonight.”
“Eek—! Really? You’re going to be with me this evening too? Then it’ll already be four days and three nights?”
Meilin bounced up and down, unable to hide her excitement. Was this really something to be that happy about?
After listening to her long chatter in the car, we sat down in a dining room with a pleasant atmosphere.
“Seriously, what’s going on? I think this is the first time you’ve had this much time, Sejun.”
“The market’s been too good lately. I just buy anything and sit still, and the money makes itself.”
“Really...? But then why is China like this? The Hang Seng Index is still going sideways. Sejun, when on earth is it going to rise?”
“...Just keep holding. China is a country with high potential too.”
As I said that, I handed her an envelope of documents.
By now, she understood at once. Meilin naturally took the bank account book from inside the envelope.
“This time it’s not bundles of cash but an account... Hm? Oh my, heavens!”
After checking the amount, her eyes went wide.
“No, Sejun, who on earth are you trying to win over this time? I think this is the first time I’ve seen an amount like this. Don’t tell me it’s the president?”
“No... Well, it is someone more important than that.”
“Someone more important than the president...? Then surely the next president?”
“No. You, Meilin.”
I smiled bitterly.
“Meilin, do you remember? The promise I made that if you worked with me, I’d help you earn far more money than your father?”
“When we first started working together?”
“Yes. I’m going to keep that promise now. It’s your severance pay. You’ve worked hard with me all this time. Lobbying like this isn’t something anyone can do without a lot of backbone... Thanks to you, everything wrapped up smoothly. If you’d been born in the U.S., you would have become a famous lobbyist.”
“Sejun... Why are you suddenly acting like this? Severance pay...? Then does that mean you don’t need me anymore?”
“Korea gets a bit noisy when election season comes around. This time won’t be easy either. I’ve already spoken with CEO Ming and decided to end the outsourcing contract. You should go back to your country and stay there.”
“Then what about you, Sejun?”
I hesitated for a moment.
Looking back, it felt like I had gone through countless regressions. But not once had I stopped the ending. With my inadequate mind, this is the only method I can think of now.
“I think I’ll have to go to school...”
“Study abroad?!”
“Yes, well, something like that...”
“Then I’ll go with you too! Please? Please, Sejun, take me with you.”
Was it because of the wine I had drunk for the first time in a while?
She sank deeply into my arms, and my awkward hands seemed to wrap around her without any wariness.
My behavior, different from usual, seemed to give her some kind of certainty.
She drew close to my face and kissed me.